Minnesota Vikings

Head Coach: Mike Zimmer (3rd year)
Offensive Coordinator: Norv Turner (3rd year)
Defensive Coordinator: George Edwards (3rd year)

Depth Chart

Quarterback: Teddy Bridgewater, Shaun Hill
Running Back: Adrian Peterson, Jerick McKinnon, Matt Asiata, Jhurell Pressley (r)
Wide Receiver: Stefon Diggs, Laquon Treadwell, Jarius Wright, Charles Johnson
Tight End: Kyle Rudolph
Kicker: Blair Walsh
Defense/Spec Teams: 2015-Finished 13th in yards against and 5th in points against. Finished 7th in sacks and 17th in interceptions

Coaching Philosophy

There are two things that offensive coordinator, Norv Turner likes to bring to his offenses…a physical running game and he likes to involve the tight end. Adrian Peterson may be the most physical running back in the league, so we can check that box off the list and expect to see a lot of AP this season. Tight end, Kyle Rudolph had a solid year last year, but not quite the season that some (including myself) had hoped for. I think Turner would love to see Rudolph become a more consistent part of the offense this year. Finally, Norv has traditionally liked to take some shots downfield, but quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has averaged 7.26 and 7.23 yards per attempt in each of his two seasons. Whether it’s Bridgewater or their receivers, the Vikings don’t necessarily have the talent to threaten regularly with the deep ball.

Fantasy Outlook

Vikings Quarterbacks

Teddy is pumped that he can shed the hat and play his home games indoors this season.

While Adrian Peterson is in the backfield, I think I can safely say that Teddy Bridgewater won’t be the focal point of the Vikings’ offense. In both of his NFL seasons, Teddy hasn’t thrown for over 14 touchdowns and when you average less than a passing touchdown per game, my heart doesn’t scream, “Draft him…Draft him!” on draft day. There are a few things to like about Bridgewater, however. He was fairly accurate last season completing about 65% of his passes. Yes, they were a lot of short passes, but he could hit the receiver in stride on the shorter routes. Word out of camp is that he has really worked on his deep ball this offseason and shown big improvement. I will temper my expectations until I see it though. The Vikings are also moving indoors this season to their new stadium which is a dome, so they won’t be playing their home games outdoors this year. Finally, the Vikings have added first round pick, Laquon Treadwell to their receiver corps which gives him another weapon in the passing game. Even with all these potential bright spots, the Vikings game flow will still run through Peterson and Bridgewater is nothing better than a low end QB2 at best.

Vikings Running Backs

This dude is a FREAK!

It’s scary to say this, but 31 year old, Adrian Peterson might be the safest running back to pick this year in fantasy football. Le’Veon Bell is suspended four games and has a history of injury. David Johnson and Todd Gurley have only one year in the league and who knows if they can duplicate their success from last year. Ezekiel Elliott is a rookie and while he’s in a great situation, he has never played a snap in the NFL. Lamar Miller is on a new team and Jamaal Charles is coming off a serious injury. Being the safest doesn’t necessarily mean I would draft him first because you have to look at upside as well, but if you want the best chance to know what your going to get from your first round running back, you might want to make AP your choice.

So what are you going to get from Peterson this year? Well, he may not get a whopping 327 rush attempts like he did last season, but I still think we may see in the area of 280-290 and that could put him in the vicinity of 1,300 yards. He has also scored double digit touchdowns in every season he’s played (except for 2014 where he only played one game), so it’s a pretty safe bet he finds the end zone often again this year as well. Finally, In the two (almost) full seasons he’s played under Zimmer and Turner, he’s had 29 and 30 receptions, so while it doesn’t put him in the same category as Lev Bell, he’s not going to kill you in PPR leagues. Overall, AP is about as solid as they come and should be one of the first three or four running backs off the board regardless of format.

Jerick McKinnon would be the handcuff you would want to own if you are an Adrian Peterson owner. Asiata has shown very little and McKinnon has showed he can carry the rock with decent yards per attempt in his limited work. He is also a decent receiver out of the backfield and had at least 20 receptions despite limited playing time. He could be very valuable if we see Peterson miss any time.

Vikings Wide Receivers

Last seasons’ fifth round pick, Stefon Diggs burst on to the scene last year in a big way. He didn’t play in the first three games of the season, but from Weeks 4 through 8 he had weeks of 6-87, 7-129, 6-108-1 and 6-95-1. Not too shabby! After that however, the wheels feel off for Diggs. In the final nine games of the season, he never topped 66 yards and only had a grand total of two touchdowns over that span. Once the defense was able to get a read on him, he wasn’t nearly as productive as he was in those first four games. He’s currently being drafted in the ninth round as a WR4 and honestly, that’s a little too rich for my blood considering the Vikings spent a first round pick on Laquon Treadwell this year to eventually become their number one receiver…

The Vikings are hoping Laquon Treadwell will eventually become their numbe one receiver.

Boy, that was a perfect segway. Let’s take a look at the rookie, Laquon Treadwell. Treadwell is 6’1′, 220 pounds and leading up to the draft, many thought he could be the first receiver taken this year. That honor ultimately went to Corey Coleman who the Browns scooped up, but Treadwell can still be a very nice NFL receiver. He has good size and great hands and excels at going up for the ball. He’s excellent at over the shoulder catches and coming down with contested balls and that’s where some have made the comparison of Treadwell to Alshon Jeffery. The main knock on the rookie is that he didn’t run at the combine and some question that after watching film, he may lack top end speed. He may not have top end speed, but with his size, hands and route running, I think he still has a very bright future in the NFL. I said “future” purposely, as from the sounds of it he will be eased into the Vikings offense this season and not be a full time player from day one. I think he could improve as the season goes on, so if you draft him, don’t expect him to be a starter for your fantasy squad early in the year. He’s currently going around the tenth round, so if you don’t get him, he might be someone you can buy on the cheap after the first month of the season when his owner might be a little frustrated.

Fourth year receiver, Charles Johnson has reportedly looked great in training camp, but until I see it continue into the preseason, I’m not buying it. He had a total of nine receptions in 11 games last season and he’s only had a total of one game over 90 yards receiving in his career. Keep an eye on him in the preseason, but as of now, he’s not worth rostering in ten or twelve team leagues.

Vikings Tight Ends

Norv Turner was supposed to take Kyle Rudolph to the next level last season. While he still had a solid season, it wasn’t anything spectacular. I’m lukewarm on Rudolph this year. He has a history of injury and that always scares me, but if he can stay on the field, I think we see some modest improvements this year. Don’t get your hopes up too high though…he’s still nothing better than a middle of the pack TE2 though.

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